GENESEE COUNTY LABOR SHED Introduction
The Workforce Intelligence Network for Southeast Michigan (WIN) partnership is a collaboration of seven Michigan Works! Agencies (MWAs) and ten community colleges across a 19-county region in Michigan. The counties in the WIN partnership include: Clinton, Eaton, Genesee, Hillsdale, Huron, Ingham, Jackson, Lapeer, Lenawee, Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, Saint Clair, Sanilac, Shiawassee, Tuscola, Washtenaw, and Wayne, along with the City of Detroit.
The WIN partnership region’s labor shed highlights why, when it comes to talent, we must think regionally: The workforce is mobile. Although 90.4% of the region’s workforce live and work1 in the 19-county area, not all residents work in their home county. It is not uncommon for workers to commute one or two counties over for work. This means that the residents in every county should be ready for the job demands of employers hiring throughout southeast Michigan.
This document provides detailed information on where employees in the area commute to and from each day for work, how far they travel, along with other information about workers and businesses in the area. For more detail on the labor market, please see WIN’s Quarterly Labor Market Report publications.
Where Residents Work
In 2019, Genesee County’s workforce consisted of 152,262 residents. 72,813 (47.8%) of the residents lived and worked within Genesee County, while the remaining 79,449 residents (52.2%) traveled outside of the county for work. Since 2017, the number of residents that traveled outside of the county for work increased by 1,653 (2.1%) individuals, from 77,796 to 79,449 individuals.
Genesee County residents were slightly more mobile in 2019 than in 2017. In 2019, 43.3% of the county’s workforce (65,916 individuals) traveled more than 25 miles to their place of employment compared to 43.0% (65,652 individuals) in 2017. Oakland County was the most popular destination outside of Genesee County for residents to find employment in 2019, with 23,735 residents or 15.6% of the county’s workforce commuting, an increase of 753 residents since 2017. Wayne County employed 8,048 residents (5.3% of the county’s workforce) in 2019.
7,185
BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS IN 2019
18,394
JOBS POSTED ONLINE IN 2019
72,813
WORKERS THAT LIVED AND WORKED IN GENESEE COUNTY
65,916
RESIDENTS TRAVELING MORE THAN 25 MILES TO WORK
Where Workers Live
Genesee County is a commuting community. In 2019, 126,771 workers were employed in Genesee County. 53,958 (42.6%) of those workers were employed in the county, but lived outside of its borders. Of those that traveled to Genesee County for work, 28,100 (52.1%) of the workers were aged 30 to 54 years. This indicates a desire for experienced workers in Genesee County. While Genesee County employers were able to attract a sizable amount of workers in 2019, 79,449 residents (52.2% of the county’s workforce) filled external jobs. Over half (52.6%) of external jobs were filled by workers between the ages of 30 and 54.
Similar to the outflow of Genesee County residents, the great majority of workers that travel to Genesee reside in either Oakland or Wayne counties. 10,983 (8.7%) of Genesee County workers travel in from Oakland County followed by 5,466 (4.3%) that travel in from Wayne County. 40,809 (32.2%) of the 126,771 workers employed in Genesee County traveled more than 25 miles to their place of employment in 2019.
